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Life Without
Nomar Hurts the Cubs A Lot
by Daniel Paulling
April 28, 2005
Going into Wednesday night last week, the Cubs
needed a win against the Cardinals. A victory would represent both
a win over their bitter rivals as well as a very important step
towards contending in the National League Central. For a team that
faced so much adversity last year, the Cubs needed a stroke of good
luck.
This team also desperately needed some offense, especially from
shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, who was batting .163. Garciaparra,
in a move of pure selflessness, went to manager Dusty Baker and
requested to hit lower in the order than third. The manager agreed
to do so, happy that his star player had come to him first.
"That was big of him to say and do that," Cubs manager
Dusty Baker said. "That's when you find out about a person,
when they're going bad. It's easy to be a team guy when you're going
good. When you're going bad, that's when you find out who a person
is. He's a hell of a dude."
So, Carlos Zambrano took the mound and dominated the Cardinals’
bats, just as the Cubbies needed and expected. The Cubs put up two
runs early, but the end of their season began in the top of the
third inning. Nomar Garciaparra, hitting in the sixth hole, grounded
a ball to short, which turned into a double play. Garciaparra, a
speedy runner, was no where close to being safe at first because
he never made it there. Two steps out of the batter’s box,
Garciaparra fell to the ground feeling an intense pain in his abductor
muscle, commonly known as the groin muscle.
"It's not good, it's a bad groin something," Baker said
after the game. "He's going to get an MRI (Thursday). Hopefully,
it's not as bad as anticipated, but we know it's not good ... Everybody
was just sick about it."
About his injury, Nomar said "I've strained my groin before,
but I've never felt anything like this."
That’s because, Nomar, this isn’t a strained groin. The
abductor muscle has been ripped from the bone, which will most likely
require surgery.
"The surgery is really going to be determined by if it is something
that Nomar wants to do," Cubs trainer Mark O'Neal said. "We're
trying to make a determination of what would be the most predictable
outcome."
If you remember, two years ago catcher Mike Piazza ripped his groin
muscle from the bone and it was two to three months later before
he returned, similar to the timetable given for Garciaparra. Think
back to that time once again. When Piazza returned, he did not have
his power, nor did he ever get back to that level once again. Nomar
will turn 32 later this year, which means he has already hit his
peak, in terms of hitting. For the sake of baseball and the sake
of Nomar, let’s hope that the career of this selfless man turns
around.
Nomar will be undergoing surgery this week and
hopes to be back this season.
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